Slipped Discs
Discs You May Have Missed
by John Noyd
Minus the Bear - Omni
Minus the BearOmni
Label: Dangerbird
Vivid slivers of slithering ribbons tie smooth syncopated grooves into brisk, crisp knots as shimmering electronic funk carve tightly wrought jazz-rock into super-cool, cross-pollinating gravy. “Omni,” spins and sparks, igniting space-age playfulness as MTB prances over edgy pinnacles, casting magic spells against dance-floor lust and prog-rock cockiness. The Bear play Chicago’s Lollapalooza early August.
• Minus the Bear Website • Minus the Bear WikiTracey Thorn - Love and It’s Opposite
Tracey ThornLove and It’s Opposite
Label: Merge
Frank romance soars and self-reflection pours beautifully forth as the Everything But the Girl singer flings herself into melodic meditations, precious hesitations and heady anticipation. Evoking wistful memories between tender metaphors and thoughtful asides, “Love,” turns personal curses into universal mercies as life’s common compromises prove uncommon fodder for Thorn’s trans-formative songwriting.
• Tracey Thorn Website • Tracey Thorn WikiKim Salmon and the Surrealists - Grand Unifying Theory
Kim Salmon and the SurrealistsGrand Unifying Theory
Label: Low Transit Industries
Explosive blues hallucinations rut and rupture as off-kilter cataclysms pass like squealing wheelies through Kim’s wild-eyed wango tango. Kim and the Surrealist’s first effort in thirteen years, “Grand,” shows no signs of age, lambasting and exonerating with madcap flashbacks and beastly thunder; improvised rampages coasting over fantasy anarchy.
• Kim Salmon and the Surrealists Website • Kim Salmon and the Surrealists WikiBlunt Mechanic - World Record
Blunt MechanicWorld Record
Label: Barsuk
Pearls wrapped in raucous romps and splintered soliloquies, Kind of Like Spitting’s Ben Barnett’s perceptive meta-conscious songs blast, slash and busk, plucking ragged realizations from personal observations and dressing them in lo-fi riffs and full-blown garage band trips. “World,” swirls; brandishing guile while collapsing from overloaded amps, slacker-crashing gallops and jagged, electric, alt-folk journalism.
• Blunt Mechanic WebsiteFlying Lotus - Cosmogramma
Flying LotusCosmogramma
Label: Warp
Hard-wired, narcoleptic kaleidoscopes; FL’s latest fractured trajectories spill into a barrage of schizoid collage, found sounds and re-mastered plastic. New age waves waft past acrobatic spasms, subtle puzzles melt trampled samples against unfettered fantasies while quirky flirtations glow, surface and evaporate. Riptide runs catapult sleepless beats, sweeping free jazz leaps as, “Cosmogramma,” builds into sweet cyber-jambalaya.
• Flying Lotus Website • Flying Lotus WikiThe New Pornographers - Together
The New PornographersTogether
Label: Matador
Not deviating from their sterling template of sharp, power-pop hooks and posh, la-di-da lyrics, “Together,” proves one can never get too much of a good thing. Uncannily catchy pomp with panache, anthemic sentiments and pithy wit, Canada’s boldly literate misfits visit Milwaukee’s Pabst June 12th, swinging back around Aug 4th to sell-out Madison’s Orpheum.
• The New Pornographers Website • The New Pornographers WikiTobacco - Maniac Meat
TobaccoManiac Meat
Label: Anticon
Bots gone amok in tilt-a-whirl curls and crunchy bungee-jumping plunges, Tobacco’s bionic bubblegum conundrums makes unrestrained graininess and over-modulated mayhem rock and rumble, hiss and fizzle. Molten sunshine pours over bristling synth-grunge dance-pop, sinister vintage plays abrasive cabaret, stomping out beefy, belching bass as, “Meat” grills electro-static sludge; brash pneumatic habits punctuating eerie, super-saturated riffs.
• Tobacco Website • Tobacco WikiMathew Sawyer and the Ghosts - How Snakes Eat
Mathew Sawyer and the GhostsHow Snakes Eat
Label: Fire Records
Slightly skewed views delivered in gentlemanly eloquence, “Snakes,” charms sweet hayseed hallucinations from classically daft English pandemonium. Civilized seaside psychedelia, Sawyer and friends conjure toddling obsolescence and creaky vaudeville civility beneath surreal jaunts and subtly pastoral poppycock, slyly embellishing miniature moon-struck show tunes, art-house ironies and breezy, parlor mysteries.
• Mathew Sawyer and the Ghosts WebsiteQuitzow - Juice Water
QuitzowJuice Water
Label: Young Love Records
A sassy blast cushioned in glossy hopscotch and electro-pop pep rallies, “Juice,” moves and grooves, mixing unflinching studio gizmos, catchy caffeinated effervescence and socio-pathic party-girl pronouncements for a rad platter of fresh, funky fun. Daring, digital dalliances romp through slap-happy vamps as East Coast upstart Quitzow trips happily past punk-diva poseurs into post-millennial sentiments.
• Quitzow WebsiteUnbunny - Moon Food
UnbunnyMoon Food
Label: Hidden Agenda
Tangled twang and open-hearted ardor fuel songs of mythic biography as Unbunny’s uncanny ability to encapsulate uncertain times turn slacker happiness and gypsy encrypted majesty into ragged sagas anchored to penetrating perspectives. Mired in barbed-wire honesty, sweeping sleepy weepers and passive pilgrim passions, “Moon,” eclipses with soul-baring whispers, solitary thoughts and rousing gun-runner-rock blisters.
• Unbunny WebsiteGlitch Mob - Drink the Sea
Glitch MobDrink the Sea
Label: Glass Air
Scorching, satin cybernetics unfold steam-cleaned dreams and menacing denizens, vaporized sighs and translucent movements swim in thick blips and coarse chords rocking around fashionably agitated, polychromatic boogie. “Sea” swirls around wordless subterfuge and programmed stamina, slithering between stun-gun lunges and chrome-plated thunder; sanctimonious moments colored in killer curves and choreographed flashes. The Glitch Mob perform their razor-sharp magic August 21st at Madison’s Majestic Theater and August 22nd at Milwaukee’s Turner Hall.
• The Glitch Mob WebsiteWailing Wall - Low Hanging Fruit
Wailing WallLow Hanging Fruit
Label: JDub Records
Bonfire ballads lit with chivalrous rhymes, TWW’s well-plucked couplets blossom into raga-flavored frolicking while fiery folk-rock waltzes rise from modest woodland musings. Shy asides and grand finales merrily massaged, “Fruit,” touches bare-bone beliefs through studio hobbit mischief, reflective convictions wholesomely arranged in swollen brass and wheezing concertinas, spritely poems from nature’s pulpit.
• The Wailing Wall WebsiteView More
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